


A Very Skeeter Interview

by flibbertygigget



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Interviews, Meta Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 20:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14723309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: Over the last two and a half decades, Rita Skeeter - who some call "The 21st century's Bagshot" - has emerged as one of the most prominent and popular historians in Britain. Today, Ms. Skeeter has agreed to give us an interview, her first in almost seven years, about the upcoming expanded editions of her two most popular works,The Life and Lies of Albus DumbledoreandSnape: Scoundrel or Saint.





	A Very Skeeter Interview

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fun little thing I wrote when I was thinking about the Dumbledore biography, whether Snape was a scoundrel or a saint, and Rita's surprisingly decent journalistic integrity. Kinda sorta lowkey meta.

**The 20th Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts Brings Expanded Editions of Skeeter's _Life and Lies_ , _Snape: Scoundrel or Saint_**

_By Waldorf Flanders, Head of Arts at The Daily Prophet_

Over the last two and a half decades, Rita Skeeter - who some call "The 21st century's Bagshot" - has emerged as one of the most prominent and popular historians in Britain. From  _Children of the Revolution: Inside Dumbledore's Army_ to  _Crouch, Moody, and Longbottom: The MLE during the First War_ , her combination of traditional biographical writing and the hard-hitting journalism she perfected early in her career have made her books must-haves for serious academics and lay-wizards alike. Today, Ms. Skeeter has agreed to give us an interview, her first in almost seven years, about the upcoming expanded editions of her two most popular works:

Waldorf Flanders: So, you started your career at _Witch Weekly_?

Rita Skeeter: Yes, yes.

WF: Not exactly the place one would expect for one of the greatest historians working today.

Rita: Well, we all have to start somewhere, don't we? [laughs] No, but really, I have no embarrassment around my _Witch Weekly_  days, none at all. There's a stereotype, you know, that witch's media is fluffier, that it shouldn't be taken seriously, but that's not true at all. And since they were a small magazine at the time, _Witch Weekly_  allowed me to try my hand at everything - articles, interviews, opinion pieces. I doubt I would be where I am today without the experience they gave me.

WF: So then you moved to _The Daily Prophet_  back in '91.

Rita: Worst career choice of my life. It wasn't so bad the first few years, but as soon the Potter started becoming a real celebrity...

WF: That's when the cracks started showing.

Rita: That was when I was relegated to a gossip column. Lord knows they needed somebody competent covering the Triwizard Tournament, but it was an insult, really it was. I was almost glad when Hermione Granger - Weasley now - forced me to move on to greener pastures. The Potter interview, for instance - now that was my first real piece of biographical writing.

WF: It certainly made you the witch to watch overnight.

Rita: But of course, darling, of course. Scoring an interview with the notoriously reclusive Boy-Who-Lived, well, there are many who'd call that the crowning moment of their career. I wasn't satisfied, of course. How could I be when that same interview opened up so many interesting questions about Albus Dumbledore, resident symbol of goodness? That's when I decided to leave journalism altogether and do a little bit of research.

WF: Which dovetails nicely into our next question. Ms. Skeeter, what can we expect of these new, expanded editions of your first two books: _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore_  and _Snape: Scoundrel or Saint_? Any new secrets to spill?

Rita: Well, the '97 edition of _Life and Lies_  was horribly rushed out. I'd been collecting sources and interviewing witnesses for almost two years, but I still felt that I barely scratched the surface. Not to mention that that parts about the Second Death Eater War, which was ongoing at the time, was just dreadful. All rumors and conjecture and very sketchy guesses about his actual plans. Thanks to sources not available at the time, I've been able to expand and update those last few chapters.

WF: One of these sources, of course, being the infamous Snape Memories?

Rita: Oh, of course. You have no idea the amount of trouble I went through obtaining _those_. It seems like every witch and wizard in the Ministry had seen them, but no one could tell me where they were or how I could obtain a copy. Eventually I managed to convince Harry Potter to let me borrow the originals, but... well, there's a reason these books are out for the 20th and not the 15th Anniversary. Still, I owe Head Auror Potter my thanks. The Snape Memories really were an invaluable resource.

WF: For the new edition of _Snape: Scoundrel or Saint_  as well, no doubt.

Rita: Well, Severus Snape is a whole other cauldron of fish. Honestly, there were points where I was tempted to simply present transcripts and pictures of the memories and allow them to stand by themselves. I had to make some kind of analysis in the end - that's my job! But all in all...

WF: I think this is the question that everyone's been wanting answered since the book came out fifteen years ago: in your opinion, was Severus Snape a scoundrel or a saint?

Rita: Now, that's a very loaded question, Waldy. Surely you know that I have to keep up at least the appearance of impartiality. [laughs] Really, my opinion of Severus Snape is a multifaceted and ever-evolving thing. Some days I find his actions while teaching at Hogwarts to be almost unforgivable. After all, it would take a truly heinous teacher to be their thirteen-year-old student's boggart. But then I look at his life, taken all together, and... well...

WF: I know it made for rather depressing reading when I first picked it up. I had been expecting another juicy exposé in the vein of _Life and Lies_.

Rita: Depressing is just the word for it. And you're right, _S_ _coundrel or Saint_  is nothing like _Life and Lies_. When I was writing _Life and Lies_ , my goal was to bring the revered figurehead Albus Dumbledore down to the same level as the rest of us, and I found more than enough dirt to achieve that. When I was writing _Scoundrel or Saint_... well, the war had just ended. Potter was going on his little beatification campaign. Others were blocking Snape from having a portrait in the Heads' Gallery - an absolutely unprecedented occurrence despite some of the rather controversial Heads throughout Hogwarts' history. I wanted to find the truth, and I felt that it was somewhere between those two extremes.

WF: And your verdict?

Rita: Scoundrel or saint? Snape was neither. He was simply a wizard like any other - undeniably cruel to his students, true, but also incredibly brave, unfailingly loyal, and frighteningly smart and cunning. To be perfectly frank with you, his role in the war was necessary, and I can't think of how he could have done any better. The decision to have him teach was questionable at best, but that's on Dumbledore's hands - I have it direct from Headmistress McGonagall that Snape was not allowed to find different employment or even change departments. He was a man living in difficult circumstances at the darkest of times. I won't say that all his decisions were the best, but I do believe, especially after seeing the Snape Memories, that he tried his best. More people owe him their lives than I think even he knew.

WF: Thank you for that, Rita. Now, just one more question before we go: who are you going to write about next? Another dashing and controversial character from the First or Second Death Eater War?

Rita: Well, I've already done that twice, Waldy. I wouldn't want to become predictable, would I? [laughs] No, I've been thinking about going a bit further back. People have been calling me the "The 21st Century's Bagshot" since '99. I think it's about time to bring some of the things old Batty wrote about into the 21st century - unsimplified, uncensored, and completely true, or my name isn't Rita Janis Skeeter.


End file.
